Acknowledgement: The Antidote to Skillification (of Empathy) in Health Professions Education

Croix, Anne de la; Peters, Grace; Laughey, William

doi:10.1007/978-981-19-1512-3_5

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In this paper, we have focused on identity as a core concept that shapes our relationship with trainees. But medical education has recently seen initiatives that fundamentally interrogate other complex concepts that that we use every day: reflection [37], professionalism [38] [15], care [2], science [39], technology [40], and skillification [41]. Many of these concepts are ways to create a conscious relationship to our field, within which metrics and technical thinking have their proper place.…”

Section: Growing Our Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Grow a Professional Identity: Philosophical Gardening in the Field of Medical Education

Veen¹,

Croix²

2023

Perspect Med Educ

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In this philosophical reflection, we – following the philosopher Heidegger - introduce two farmers who represent different ways in which one can develop growth (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7jZigyfKHI for instructional video). One is a traditional farmer who entrusts the seeds to the soil and cultivates them with care and trust. The other is a modern farmer who takes an industrialized approach and positions the seeds and ‘challenges-forth’ the crops to show themselves in a certain way. We use these farmers as an analogy for the ways in which we as medical educators can and should relate to those we ‘care’ for: medical students and trainees. Taking a philosophical stance, and accounting for our own positionality and involvement in the analysis, we focus on ‘Professional Identity Formation’ and its operationalization in the field of medical education. We identify three main approaches medical education has taken to identity: as an individual trait, as a set of behaviors, and as a socialization process. All these approaches have at their root a similar assumption, namely that all inner processes can be made visible. We challenge this representational paradigm and use ‘philosophical gardening’ to raise awareness of what can and cannot be measured and controlled. Finally, we suggest educational approaches that leave space for diversity in students’ experiences, learning approaches, and growth. We share good practices of brave teachers and curriculum designers whose interventions are characterized by less control and fewer measurements of personal growth, but more trust and free spaces for authentic learning.

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Section: Growing Our Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Grow a Professional Identity: Philosophical Gardening in the Field of Medical Education

Veen¹,

Croix²

2023

Perspect Med Educ

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“…We have rushed to operationalise silence within communication skills teaching (adopting an epistemological focus—‘what do we need to know?’), without seeking to answer just what silence is . Recent work on empathy has suggested that such operationalisation—or ‘skillification’ 8 —of complex communicative concepts can lead to learner resistance, frustration, and cognitive dissonance or discomfort. Without foundational understanding of the concept of silence, we risk ‘skillification’ in how we address silence within teaching.…”

Section: Why Do We (Now) Need Philosophy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hyde defines acknowledgement as ‘any communicative behaviour that grants attention to others and thereby makes room for them in our lives’ (p.1). Of all possible approaches, we selected acknowledgement due to recent work exploring the concept's relevance to empathy within medical education 8 . de la Croix, Peters, and Laughey 8 propose acknowledgement as an antidote to the trend of skillification in medical education, suggesting that an approach to teaching empathy that foregrounds acknowledgement (e.g.…”

Section: Why Acknowledgement?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of all possible approaches, we selected acknowledgement due to recent work exploring the concept's relevance to empathy within medical education 8 . de la Croix, Peters, and Laughey 8 propose acknowledgement as an antidote to the trend of skillification in medical education, suggesting that an approach to teaching empathy that foregrounds acknowledgement (e.g. exploring others' lived experiences through the arts), rather than a purely skills‐based approach may be beneficial.…”

Section: Why Acknowledgement?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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On acknowledging silence within medical education

Brown

Collini

2023

Medical Education

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IntroductionSilence is a part of all interactions, yet its potential significance within medical education remains underexplored. Existing literature primarily focuses on its use as a skill, leaving a gap in understanding its broader implications. Emerging evidence from higher education suggests that conceptualising silence as a way of being and becoming could enrich personal and professional growth. Unfolding dialogue on equality, diversity and inclusion suggests that silence on inequity can be oppressive. However, medical education has yet to consider the possible implications of conceptualising silence in this way.MethodsWe explore silence through the philosophical lens of acknowledgement. Acknowledgement—communicative behaviour that grants attention to others—is a philosophy with roots in phenomenology. It is concerned with being and becoming, and silence can be part of the communicative behaviour that constitutes acknowledgement. Our aim in exploring the ontological nature of silence (silence associated with being) using acknowledgement is to offer a springboard for practitioners, educators, and researchers to consider how silence is connected with our existence as people.ResultsPositive acknowledgement involves a commitment to turning towards the other and valuing this connection. Silence can be a way of demonstrating this—for example, giving patients the space they need to express their thoughts and emotions. Negative acknowledgement is the opposite and involves dismissing, ignoring or invalidating another's experiences. In the context of silence, negative acknowledgement may involve ignoring a person or group's ideas, or bystander silence when witness to discrimination.ConclusionsWithin this work, we consider the ramifications of conceptualising silence as ontological, rather than purely a skill to be taught. This is a novel way of conceptualising silence, and there is a pressing need to explore this further to expand our understanding of the impact of silence for diverse groups of learners, educators, practitioners and patients.

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Perceived Addiction Potential: Preliminary Evidence of the Accuracy of Self-Assessed Substance Use Disorder Risk

Stone

2024

Int J Ment Health Addiction

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Acknowledgement: The Antidote to Skillification (of Empathy) in Health Professions Education

Cited by 3 publications

References 29 publications

How to Grow a Professional Identity: Philosophical Gardening in the Field of Medical Education

How to Grow a Professional Identity: Philosophical Gardening in the Field of Medical Education

On acknowledging silence within medical education

Perceived Addiction Potential: Preliminary Evidence of the Accuracy of Self-Assessed Substance Use Disorder Risk

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